Apparatus for cleaning barrels



June 26, 1962 w. PARKS APPARATUS FOR CLEANING BARRELS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 10, 1958 INVENTOR. WALTER PAR/(S I i l I H H? June 26, 1962 w. PARKS 3,040,351

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING BARRELS Filed June 10, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 a w, 3 Q o L: "1.. i 9r 1 zl m J \L m h 9: g 2

w: 2 W F E E a a A N II I INVENTOR.

WALTER PARKS BY L4; L6! ATTORNEY June 26, 1962 w. PARKS 3,040,351

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING BARRELS Filed June 10, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 76 I/ E i 73 INVENTOR. WALTER PAR/(S lax WK ATTORNEY June 26, 1962 w. PARKS 3,040,351

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING BARRELS Filed June 10, 1958 .-'4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. I WAL TER PAR/(S A 7' TO/PNEK United states This invention relates to a barrel cleaning machine which automatically spins a barrel in a tank of cleaning liquid such as caustic solution and which scrubs the sides and ends of the spinning barrel.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No. 488,661, filed February 16, 1955, entitled, Barrel Cleaning Machine, hereinafter referred to as my copending application. The said copending application issued as U.S. Patent No. 2,889,566 on June 9, 1959.

In the machine of my copending application a barrel is placed on its side in a tank of cleaning solution, it is supported on rollers, a side brush is brought down on the side of the barrel and end brushes are brought against the ends. The side brush and the end brushes are rotated at high speed. The side brush causes the barrel to spin, thereby bringing the entire outer surface of the barrel .into contact with the brushes and accomplishing a thorough cleaning. Although a very thorough and efiicient cleaning operation is accomplished by the machine of my copending application, nevertheless a diificulty has been encountered with respect to spinning the barrels. For proper cleaning, it is necessary to spin each barrel at a reasonable speed, e.g., 20 rpm. If the barrel is rotated too slowly, the efficiency of the cleaning operation suffers, and if it is rotated too fast caustic cleaning solution is slung about. The problem of maintaining a proper spinning rate increases as the side brush wears. Thus, if a barrel cleaning machine is adjusted to spin barrels at the optimum speed, it will be found that, as the side brush wears, the machine will depart from optimum performance and will frequently stop spinning barrels altogether. By supporting the barrel on rubber-covered rollers, these atent difficulties are alleviated. However, rubber is disadvansupport the barrels, it then becomes diflicult to maintain proper spinning of the barrels.

It is an object of the present invention to improve upon automatic barrel washing apparatus.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an automatic barrel cleaning machine which will spin barrels at suitable speed, which can be easily adjusted from time to time to maintain suitable speed and which serves to clean the exterior surfaces of barrels.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the ensuing description and the appended claims.

One form of the invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which' FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the barrel washing machine of my invention, omitting, however, a portion of the machine (that portion employed to clean the interior surfaces of barrels), which is shown in another view.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the portion of the machine omitted from, FIGURE 1, that is to say, that portion of the machine which is employed to clean the interiors of barrels and to supply barrels to the part of the machine shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a view along the line 33 of FIGURE 1 showing the exterior barrel cleaning apparatus in end elevation.

FIGURE 4 is a view along the line 44 of FIGURE 3 showing the exterior cleaning apparatus in side elevation.

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FIGURE 5 is a section taken along the line 55 of FIGURE 2.

Referring now to the drawings and primarily to FIG- URES 1, 2 and 5, the machine as a whole is designated by the reference numeral (see FIGURE 1) and it includes an interior washing station 10a which is shown in FIGURES 2 and 5. Barrels are shown at 11 which are of the steel drum type such as 55 gallon steel drums used for petroleum products. These are rolled down an inclined chute or conveyor 12 to a feed element 13 by which they are dumped, one at a time, into a trough or elongated tank 14 which'is partly filled'with a cleaning liquid 15, such as aqueous caustic soda solution. The feed element 13 comprises cradle members 16 which are fixed to and rotated with a shaft 17 which is journaled in frame members 19. The shaft 17 is operated by a pneumatic cylinder 20 which is connected at to the frame and which has a rod 26 connected at 27 to a link 28 which is fixed to the shaft 17. As explained hereinafter, the cylinder 20 is operated in timed relation to other elements of the machine so that a barrel 11 is dumped into the tank 14 in timed relation to'other operations of the machine. Thus, after the outside surfaces (i.e., the sides and ends) of a barrel have been cleaned in the exterior cleaning apparatus described hereinafter and the cleaned barrel is removed, the barrel in the tank 14 at the interior washing station 10a is moved forwardly by means hereinafter described, and thereafter the cylinder 20 is operated to deliver another barrel to the tank 14. .It will be apparent that the shape of the cradle members 16 is such that, while they deliver one barrel to the tank 14, they will hold back the remaining barrels on the chute 12.

As will be seen from FIGURE 5, the barrels in tank 14 rest on rollers 29 which may be steel rollers and which are continuously driven by suitable means (not shown). It is desired that each barrel spin in the tank 14 so that it will partially fill with cleaning liquid through its bung hole and so that the liquid in the interior will contact the entire interior surface of the barrel to accomplish a thorough interior cleaning operation. To spin abarrel it is necessary to apply pressure to thebarrel to hold it firmly in contact with the rollers 29. This hold down operation is accomplished 'by a hold down apparatus which is generally designated by the reference numeral 30. It comprises a cylinder 31 supported by frame, elements 32 (see FIGURE 2), a rod 33 and a hold down clamp 34 which is fitted with rollers 35. The cylinder 31 is operated, after a barrel has been dumped into the tank 14, to bring the clamp 34 and rollers 35 down onto the top of the barrel to clamp it firmly against the spinning rollers 29. The rollers 29, therefore, cause the barrel to spin and will accomplish the interior cleaning operation.

A barrel feed means is also provided which is generally designated by the reference numeral 40. The barrel feed means is best shown in FIGURE 2 but it is also shown partially in FIGURE 5. The barrel feed means 40 comprises a pneumatic cylinder 41 having a rod 42 to one end of which is connected an ejector arm 43 The arm 43 is steadied and guided by a rod 44 which passes between rollers 45 which are mounted on the framework. The stroke of the cylinder 41 is somewhat greater than the length of a barrel 11, so that the ejector arm '43 will move the end barrel, that is, the barrel that has just been given an interior cleaning, a distance somewhat greater than its length. This clears enough space for the next barrel. The barrels push each other along by increments in the tank 14 until they reach the exterior clean- 3,04a351 Patented June 26, 1962 3 to feed barrels to the exterior washing assembly which will now be described.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, it will be seen that the rollers 29 terminate short of the left-hand end (as viewed in FIGURE 1) of the tank 14 and that roller segments 29:; and 29b are provided which are spaced from the adjacent ends of rollers 29 and from each other to provide clearance openings 56 for movement of cradle members 51. The cradle members 51 are fixed to a shaft 2 which is journaled in the frame, and the shaft 521 is operated by a pneumatic cylinder 53, a rod 54 and a connecting linkage 55. Referring to FIGURE 3 it will be seen that the cradle arms 51 serve to transfer barrels 11 from the tank 14 to a tank 56. The common wall between the tanks 14 and 56 is recessed at 5-7 to facilitate this transfer and to permit communication between the two tanks so that the same fluid will pass therebetween. By this means fluid which drains from upended drums after they have been cleaned inside and out, can drain back into the tank 56 to maintain the level of liquid in tanks 14 and 56. Occasional make-up fluid will have to be added.

Referring now to FIGURES l, 3 and 4, it will be seen that a barrel is supported by steel rollers 58 in the tank 56 at the exterior washing station b and that a roller 59 supported by brackets 60 guides the barrel onto the rollers 58 and provides a back stop. It will also be seen that the outer surface (sides and ends) of the barrel are washed and scrubbed by an assembly 65. The washing or scrubbing elements are a side brush 66 and two end brushes 67a and 67b, the brush 67a being referred to as the righthand brush (see FIGURE 4) and the brush 67b is'the left-hand brush. The exterior washing assembly 65 is generally the same as that described and claimed in my copending application but it incorporates certain important improvements as will appear hereinafter.

The assembly 65 comprises a frame 68 which is stationary in the sense that, during operation of the machine, it does not move. However, the frame 68 is provided in the manner explained hereinafter with means for shifting it laterally, i.e., to and from the tank "56. This shifting feature performs a very important function as will appear. The frame 68 comprises a base 69 formed of channels and upright members 70 which are also formed of channels.

' A pivot frame 71 is pivotally mounted at 72 on the main frame 68 and it supports such elements as a motor 73 which is connected by suitable transmission means (not shown) to the right-hand end brush 67a and to the side brush 66. Such transmission may be of the type described in my copending application and it is covered by housing means 74 and 75. A housing 76 is provided for the side brush 66.

A motor 77 (see FIGURE 1) is provided to operate the left-hand end brush "67b and this motor is mounted on a plate 77a which is slidable on the pivot frame 71, such sliding movement being imparted by a pneumatic cylinder 78 and its rod 79. The plate 77a also supports a bracket 80 (see FIGURE 4) which supports a bearing 81 in which the shaft of the left-hand end brush 67b is journaled. It will, therefore, be apparent that the left-hand .end brush 6712 can be shifted toward and away from the adjacent end of a barrel, and that it can also be pivoted together with the other end brush 67a and the side brush 66 between an up position which clears the tank 56 and a down position to contact a barrel in the tank. The left-hand end brush 67b is driven by the motor 77 through a transmission which includes a chain 82 and'a sprocket 83, the latter being fixed to the-shaft of brush 67b (see FIGURE 4).

For the purpose of pivoting the pivot frame 71 a pneumatic cylinder 84 (see FIGURE 3) is provided whose rod 85 is pivotally connected at 90 to the pivot frame 71. To cushion shock as the pivot frame 71 is pivoted to its up position, or to the right as viewed in FIGURE 3, a rod 91 is provided to which a collar 92 is pinned which bears against the upper end of a coil spring 93, the lower end of which is seated in a socket 94.

The exterior washing assembly 65 undergoes a cycle of operation such as that described in my copending application. That is to say, when a barrel is dumped into the tank 56 at the station 16b onto rollers 58, the pivot frame 71 will be in its up position and the side brush 66 and the end brushes 67a and 67b are clear of the tank 56. At this particular instant the end brush 67b will also be in its retracted position, i.e., to the left as viewed in FIGURE 4. Then the cylinder 84 will operate to pivot the frame 71 to its down position, thereby bringing the side brush 66 into contact with the top of the barrel and the right-hand end brush 67a into contact with the adjacent end of the barrel. The cylinder '78 will then pull the left-hand end brush 67b to the right as viewed in FIGURE 4 into contact with the adjacent end of the barrel. Meanwhile the brushes 66, 67 and 671; will be rapidly rotating and the side brush 66 will cause the barrel 11 to spin.

As described in my copending application, the end brushes 67a may have imparted to them an oscillating motion in a vertical plane so that they will contact the en-' tire end surface of a barrel. Also, as explained in my copending application, the brushes 67a and 67b are preferably flat face brushes which will contact not only the more easily accessible portions of the barrel ends but also the more difficultly accessible portions adjacent; the chimes. The character of the brushes 66, 67a and 67b, their rapid rotating motion and the oscillating motion of the brushes 67a and 67b insure a very thoroughcleaning action.

As also explained in my copending application, the side brush 66 is preferably a cylindrical brush, and it is; the principal driving element whereby a barrel is rotated so as to bring its entire outer surface repeatedly into con-' tact with the brushes 66, 67a and 67b.

It is, :of course, necessary to eject a washed barrel at the conclusion of the exterior washing operation, and this may be accomplished by means shown in FIGURES 1 and 3. A pneumatic cylinder is provided having a rod 101 which is connected to an ejector arm 1062i (seef FIGURE 3). The ejector arm 102 is steadied and guided by a rod 163 which passes between rollers 164. At' the conclusion of the exterior washing operation, the' pneumatic cylinder 100 will operate to move the ejector arm 102 to the left as viewed in FIGURE 1, thereby ejecting a barrel from the exterior washing station 10b.

In the operation of the apparatus described it is preferred to carry out the operations automatically, in syn chronized relation. Automatic controls for accomplish ing this object are described in my copending application insofar as the exterior washing assembly 65 is concerned. The controls there described, or other suitable controls may be employed. One automatic control element is illustrated in FIGURE 1, which interconnects the controls for the exterior washing assembly 10b with those for the interior washing assembly 10a and it comprises a pivoted arm 106 and a micro-switch 107. The switch 107 is normally closed, but when a barrel is at the end of tank 14 in contact with the arm 166, this arm is held in a position to open the switch 107. When a barrel is lifted by the cradle arms 51 into the tank 56, the switch 107 closes, which sets in motion a chain of events'to be described.

Following through a complete cycle of operation, when a barrel 111 has been washed sufficiently on its outside at station 10b (such being signaled by a suitable timing device, not shown; e.g., that shown in my copending application), the cylinder 73 (FIGURE 1) operates to retract the left-hand end brush 67b (FIGURE 4); then the cylinder 84 (FIGURE 3) operates to pivot the pivot frame 71 and to lift the brushes 66, 67a and 67b; then the cylinder 100 (FIGURE 1) operates to eject the cleaned barrel from station 10b; then the cylinder 53 (FIGURE 1) operates to transfer a barrel from tank 14 to tank 56; then switch 107 (FIGURE 1) closes to initiate operation of cylinder 31 (FIGURE 5) to lift the barrel clamp 34; then the cylinder 41 operates to eject an interiorly cleaned barrel from station a; then cylinder 20 operates to deliver another barrel from the chute '12 (FIGURE 5 to the tank 14 and the cylinder 31 operates to bring clamp 34 down onto the newly delivered barrel. It will be understood, of course, that the control system will return moving parts to their proper positions; e.g., ejector arm 102 (FIGURE 1) returns before cradle arms 51 operate; the latter returns before the pivot frame 71 returns, etc.

As stated above, a difficulty encountered in :a barrel cleaning apparatus of the type described in my copending application is that the side brush (indicated as 66 herein) Wears, and when it Wears substantially it will not drive the barrel 11 at the exterior cleaning station 10b at the proper rate of speed. It is important that barrels at the exterior cleaning station 10b be rotated at all times at the proper speed, which I have found to be generally about 20 rpm. If barrels are not rotated, the cleaning operation will obviously be unsatisfactory because the brushes 66, 67a and 67b will contact only a small part of the outside surface of the barrel. If the barrel is rotated too slowly, the cleaning operation will be unsatisfactory. On the other hand, if the speed of rotation is excessive, considerable quantities of caustic cleaning liquid will be expelled and thrown about, which is not only wasteful but is hazardous to operators and by-standers. It will, therefore, be apparent that it is important to drive barrels at all times at optimum speed.

I have discovered that a constant and proper speed of rotation of barrels can be maintained if the side brush 66 is maintained in top center position at all times. Referring to FIGURE 3, the brush 66 should at all times be tangent to the top of the barrel 11; that is, the vertical diameters of the brush 66 and the barrel 1 1 should coincide, or. approximately coincide. However, as the brush 66 wears, it will drop and its vertical diameter will shift laterally, to the right as viewed in FIGURE 3. Contact between the brush 66 and barrel 11 will, therefore, occur along an oblique line. I have discovered that this condition is the cause of the tendency of machines of this character to rotate barrels at slower speed and to stop rotation altogether.

It is, of course, possible to design the machine so that proper contact is made initially between the brush 66 and the barrels, but as stated this condition ceases to exist because of wear. I have, therefore, provided a means of adjusting the brush 66 from time to time to maintain its proper position.

Referring to FIGURE 3, screws 110 are provided each of which has a head 111 which bears against and is welded to the stationary frame of the machine. That is to say, in the case of the upper screws 110 (one of which is shown in FIGURE 3) the head 111 bears against the adjacent side of tank 56 and the heads 1 11 of the lower screws 110 (one of which is shown in FIGURE 3) bear against and are welded to the base of the tank. 'Each of the screws 11d passes through a plate 70a welded to the respective upright channel 711. Nuts 112 and 113 are threaded on the screws 110 on opposite sides of the flanges 7 0a.

It will be apparent that the frame 68, which supports the working, moving parts of the apparatus 65, can be moved away from the tank 56 and rollers 58, or to the right as viewed in FIGURE 3, by loosening and backing off the nuts 113 and then turning the nuts #112 in the proper direction. On the other hand, by loosening and backing off the nuts 112 and turning the nuts 113 in the proper direction the frame 68 will be pushed closer to the tank 56 and rollers 58. Therefore, as the brush 66 wears and its dead center or optimum position is no longer maintained, the nuts 112 may be loosened and backed off, the nuts 113 turned to push the frame 68 to the left as viewed in FIGURE 3, thereby restoring the brush 66 to its optimum operating position, and the nuts 112 tightened to clamp the frame in adjusted position. These adjustments can be carried out very easily and quickly, even While the machine is operating, and in ample time to avoid difliculties of the nature described hereinabove.

It will, therefore, be apparent that a barrel cleaning machine has been provided which operates rapidly, automatically and efliciently to clean the interior and exterior surfaces of barrels. A serious disadvantage of prior machines has been overcome by a very simple and effective means, that is to say, the provision of steel rollers such as those shown at 58 which avoid the drawbacks of rubber covered rollers, and the provision of means for adjusting the side brush to keep it in the optimum operating position at all times, notwithstanding wear of the brush during use and its normal tendency to drift and cause operating difliculties.

I claim:

1. Barrel cleaning apparatus of the character described comprising a tank, parallel metal rollers in the bottom of said tank for supporting a barrel on its side for spinning about its horizontal longitudinal axis; a main frame adjacent said tank and arranged generally in parallelism to said rollers; means for shifting said main frame to and from the tank; a pivot frame mounted on said main frame to pivot in a vertical are toward and from the top surface of a barrel on said rollers; and a cylindrical cleaning brush rotatably mounted in said pivot frame parallel to a barrel on said rollers to contact the barrel along its top surface and to rotate about its longitudinal axis; said shifting means permitting suflicient lateral shifting of the side brush to maintain it in top center contact with the barrels on said rollers notwithstanding wear of the brush.

2. Barrel cleaning apparatus of the character described comprising a tank, parallel metal rollers in the tank for supporting a barrel on its side for spinning about its horizontal, longitudinal axis; a frame adjacent said tank; a cylindrical cleaning brush; means mounting said brush on said frame with its longitudinal axis horizontal, parallel to and above said rollers, said mounting means also mounting said brush for rotation about its longitudinal axis and for oscillatory movement between an operating position in contact with a barrel supported on said rollers and a retracted position clear of such barrel to permit ejection thereof and entry of the next barrel to be cleaned; means for automatically rotating said brush to spin and to clean the sides of a barrel supported on its side by said rollers; said mounting means also comprising adjustment means which is normally inoperative during rotation of said brush and during the introduction, cleaning and ejection of barrels, said adjustment means, when operated, acting to shift said brush transversely in relation to the longitudinal axis of a barrel supported in horizontal cleaning position on said rollers whereby, as said brush wears due to abrasion and assumes a line of contact with the barrel which inhibits spinning of the barrel by the brush, the said line of contact can be adjusted to maintain spinning of the barrel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,195,202 Connal Mar. 26, 1940 2,454,924 Hurst Nov. 30, 1948 70 2,580,344 Clayborne Dec. 25, 1951 2,628,378 Gilbert et a1 Feb. 17, 1953 

